Saudi Aramco was the first company headquartered outside the United States to surpass a $2 trillion market capitalization.
Saudi Aramco briefly exceeded $2 trillion in market value during trading on the Saudi Exchange in December 2019, shortly after its initial public offering. The company’s shares rose strongly after listing, although the valuation later moved below that level.
The milestone was notable because most companies near the top of global market-cap rankings were American technology firms. Saudi Aramco’s position came from the scale and profitability of its petroleum operations, along with investor expectations about its reserves and production.
The company is majority-owned by the Saudi government. Its public float is much smaller than the government’s holding, so the market capitalization calculation includes both publicly traded and government-held shares.